United Airlines waves goodbye to Boeing 747 from Heathrow

30 October 2017

As United Airlines celebrates the retirement of the Boeing 747 from its fleet, crowds of well-wishers have gathered at the Queen’s Terminal on to bid a fond farewell to the ‘Queen of the Skies’ and witness the very last United Boeing 747 flight to depart from London Heathrow.

Marking this historic occasion, customers, guests, United employees as well as the flight captain and crew of the last Boeing 747 flight, joined United managing director sales, United Kingdom and Ireland, Bob Schumacher, before the departure of United flight 900 to San Francisco for a special gate celebration with entertainment from retro girl band, The Tootsie Rollers.

“On January 22, 1970, the Boeing 747 made its very first commercial flight from New York to London for Pan American World Airways, which later became United Airlines at Heathrow, and so what better way to mark the end of an era spanning almost four decades by saying farewell to the ‘Queen of the Skies’ here in London,” said Schumacher.

“Our customers in the UK can now enjoy a significantly enhanced onboard experience as the state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner replaces the 747 on one of our two daily services from London Heathrow to San Francisco.”